TIME TO LEAVE: DVD

SYNOPSIS:When Romain (Melvil Poupaud), a self-absorbed gay fashion photographer, is diagnosed with terminal cancer, he doesn't want anyone to know about his illness. Confused and isolated, he brutally shuts everyone out of his life; his partner Sasha (Christian Sengewald), his family and even his doctor (Henri de Lorme). The only person he confides in is his grandmother, Laura (Jeanne Moreau), who has been estranged from the family for many years. Knowing his time is running out, Romain uses the camera to capture tender moments that are very different from the high-profile fashion shoots he is used to. Then one day a waitress in a café (Valeria Bruni Tedeschi) makes him a surprising proposition.

Review by Louise Keller:There's a subtle but important mood difference in the French title and English translation of Francois Ozon's film, Time To Leave. The English title implies leaving the present, whereas the French title, Le Temps qui Reste, concentrates on using the time that is left. I prefer the optimistic French view, which creates the semblance that there is a choice. Ozon's second film in his trilogy about death and mourning (the first, Under The Sand canvassed the death of a loved one), Romain (Melvil Poupaud) is forced to cope with the daunting news of his own imminent death. Despite his inability to do anything about his illness, Romain does have a choice - about how to spend his last days.

With great delicacy and subtlety, Ozon unravels the complications of Romain's life, allowing him to face eternity in peace. Instead of making peace with the parents (Daniel Duval, Marie Rivière) who don't understand him, the sister (Louise-Anne Hippeau) who irks him, and Sasha, the lover (Christian Sengewald) who frustrates him, Romain decides to make peace with himself. The only family member in whom he confides is his adored grandmother Laura, and the casting of the legendary Jeanne Moreau adds great poignancy. Now he is no longer working as a fashion photographer, the photos he chooses to take are quite different. He clicks his digital camera to record what he sees, when his emotions are spilling uncontrollably. He snaps the park around him when coming to terms with the news; he snaps his estranged sister as she cuddles her baby; he snaps Sasha when he is asleep; he snaps Laura from the car window, when they have said their last goodbyes.

Romain's salvation comes by chance, when Valeria Bruni Tedeschi's waitress asks him an unexpected favour. The ramifications of what happens next give Romain a direction he had never anticipated and Ozon treats these scenes with the greatest of respect. A touching and haunting film that is more uplifting than its central theme suggests, Time To Leave leaves us with much to reflect upon, and consider. 'Beaches are timeless spaces, they provide abstraction and purity,' says Ozon, whose love of the beach and the sunset (shown to effect recently in 5 x 2) are again used effectively.